Just about everything you do on your machine requires at least a little bit
of precision. Whether you are surfing the web furiously or playing a few rounds
of your favorite first person shooter, you are in need of a mouse. Plain jane
mice are a thing of the past, let's take a look at something spicier.

We have the xRaider mouse from Flexiglow on the review slab today. Aside
from the pleasing colors, the xRaider also provides quick and precise
performance.

Specifications:

800DPI resolution

Image processing - 550800 pixels/sec

Frame rate - 1700/sec

Speed 12.75 inches/sec

USB or PS/2

PC and Mac compatible

Here are some features:

Easy-Grip rubber coated buttons

Illuminated Scroll Wheel with built in calibration control

Funky changing colour illuminated status light

Extra long USB cord (1.8m)

Translucent exterior housing

Slick easy glide Teflon Feet

The packaging comes with a PS/2 adapter in case you do not have
any USB ports to spare. A carry pouch is also provided, which I assume would be
useful for transportation if you attend LAN events.

The xRaider only provides a left, middle (wheel press) and right
click. There are no side buttons that you can map for other functions.

I will admit, I have very big and heavy fingers. After using the
xRaider for a while, I felt that the buttons were very easy to press down on.
For me, this sometimes causes a few accidental double clicks. I would guess a
bit of practice should help a bit.

The rear base of the mouse has a clear cut xRaider logo. A
multi-colored LED pulses when power is provided. It cycles through green, blue,
red and purple.

One of my favorite features of the xRaider is the illuminated
wheel. It emits a nice and bright blue color when on.

So how does the mouse far in regular and gaming tasks? Rather well
I might say. The mouse comes with very slick Teflon mouse feet, which made the
mouse slide quickly across my Ratpadz. If you are switching from an older mouse,
you will need a bit of time to get used to the increased speed on your pad as
well as on your screen. I was previously using a MS Intellimouse Pro optical, a
very large and aging mouse. It took a few minutes to get used to the new
speed.

I've been playing the new Battlefield 2 game that just came out. I
am really bad at flying the helicopter in the game. It requires you to hold the
mouse stead as well as using the keyboard. Often times, I would move a bit too
much with the mouse when I didn't want to and end up in the side of a mountain.
With the xRaider, I am still crashing into mountains. Not the fault of the
xRaider, more of a re-learning of basics in regards to flying. The mouse is
quick, so I'm always moving too much to the left or too much to the right. You
will have to re-learn a few things when you start off.

Overall, the xRaider is a great bang for the buck mouse with some
visual appeal. It is responsive throughout on the screen and on the mouse pad.
The mouse is not at all large, but it fits comfortably. It would have been great
to have some extra buttons, possible a future revision?

Thanks to Flexiglow for
sending over their xRaider mouse. They have a whole range of illuminated devices
that match with this mouse as well.